


Comrade in arms

by Hypatia_66



Series: Early days [18]
Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV)
Genre: Early Days, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 16:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18814648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hypatia_66/pseuds/Hypatia_66
Summary: London's new Russian recruit is a problem for his Section Head





	Comrade in arms

Any outsider recruited to work in the London branch of UNCLE found that there were internal clubs they would never penetrate. They would always be marked out by their accent, table manners, and subtle wrongness of clothing, shoes and haircut. Some nationalities were more highly regarded than others so for most of the foreign agents it didn’t matter – their background and upbringing were an uninteresting irrelevance – though they were likely to be judged on performance more unsympathetically than their English counterparts.

Why the Comrade had been assigned to Section Four was not only a mystery but also a concern. Despite university degrees from Paris and Cambridge; despite recommendation by Berlin (which itself was regarded with suspicion), despite all that, with the Cold War raging, Kuryakin was considered an anathema, his appointment abhorred. Someone should have vetoed it.

<><><> 

The new head of Intelligence and Communication, Section Four, stood out in any crowd. Tall, dark, good-looking; in his Savile Row suit, he was the epitome of suave. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the moment he opened that mouth it was immediately apparent to his English colleagues where he had gone to school. Even the characteristic body language he had acquired there proclaimed him as an alumnus of the specific public school it signified. Like Freemasons, members of the same tribe recognised each other instantly. They recognised, too, someone who would scarcely be required to _earn_ the KCB due to one of his rank. The day people would call him Sir John couldn’t be far off. It was just a matter of time before he could drop the Mr and become _Sir_ John Raleigh, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. But for the moment he was a mere Mr Raleigh and keen to keep his reputation and his nose clean.

It might not be easy. He sat firmly behind his desk facing the Russian agent foisted on him – much smaller, much fairer, much prettier indeed, than expected – and smiled. It was a false smile, as the little Russian evidently recognised because he did not return it. He concealed whatever emotions he was feeling under a façade of ice; never uttering an unnecessary word. He had clearly known exactly what questions would be asked; had his answers prepared; had his own awkward questions. The interview left his superior with little to say but much to think about. They sat looking at each other in silence.

What to do with him? He could be extremely useful in the search for the suspected fifth-columnists. He was extraordinarily intelligent and, despite his youth, had been privy to high-level secrets in the heart of Europe, in the front line of the Cold War. Fluent in many languages, he had the wide range of experience of people and places, and came with the kind of references, that most civil servants could only dream of.

“What do you know about the Treaty of Rome?” said Raleigh suddenly, taking him by surprise with a matter outside his previous experience and perhaps hoping to expose some ignorance. Of course, it didn’t.

“It was signed last year, to establish an economic community among half a dozen European states,” Kuryakin replied.

“How will they achieve it?”

“Ultimately by creating a customs union with a single market for goods, labour, services – and capital, of course.”

“Do you think Britain should join?”

Kuryakin recognised a trap when he saw it. “That is up to Britain,” he replied, “but…” He paused, uncertain how to continue.

“But…?” prompted Raleigh.

Kuryakin took a breath. “Any member state can exercise the right to veto another country’s request to join...”

“Do you think one of them will?”

Kuryakin shook his head – not in denial, more out of a reluctance to speak. For a Russian, an enemy alien, to demonstrate so much knowledge about the internal affairs of Western allies, well…

“Which?”

“There will be a presidential election in France this year,” Kuryakin began. “One of the candidates is well-known to you.”

Raleigh raised an eyebrow. “Yes, indeed.”

“Monsieur de Gaulle is engaged in writing the constitution for a Fifth Republic and sees the role of president as being ‘l’esprit de la nation’.”

“So, if he becomes President, he also becomes the Spirit of France … and he doesn’t like us much so if we were to apply to join, he would certainly use the veto,” said Raleigh musingly, thus relieving Kuryakin of the need to spell it out.

“It’s no secret that he despises the Anglo-Saxon world – you and the United States, at least,” said Kuryakin with more confidence.

“Did you enjoy your time in France?” Raleigh asked – not changing the subject.

Suspicious again, the cool blue eyes met his. “I did,” he said cautiously.

“It will be very different, but do you think you will enjoy working for UNCLE in Britain – and maybe in the United States?”

So here was the real test.

“I go and I do what I am ordered to,” he said, giving his standard answer.

“That’s not what I asked.”

There was a slight pause. “Then, yes, I shall enjoy working here – if I am permitted to,” Kuryakin said tonelessly.

Raleigh winced and, crossing his fingers, said, “It may not be entirely enjoyable, but I’d like you to start by monitoring routine calls between our colleagues in British Intelligence and their counterparts in France,” and was gratified to see the blue eyes lift with… was that an expression of horror?

**Author's Note:**

> LJ Short Affair challenge. Prompts: ice, silver
> 
> KCB: a British order of knighthood given to senior civil servants and senior military officers. The Order of Knights of the Bath was founded in 1725. The name, since you ask, is based on the medieval ceremony of creating knights – a bath was a symbol of purification.
> 
> The Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957.
> 
> President Charles de Gaulle, did indeed veto Britain’s first attempt to join the European Common Market in 1963 and again in 1967. Much might have been different if he hadn’t.


End file.
